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Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 2: Game of Thrones season 8 marches on with “Episode 802.” And yes, HBO has still not given us a title or a synopsis ahead of time, and that’s fine. However, we do have several photos fro the episode to pore over, plus a trailer, plus some helpful links you can use to live-stream the show. Let’s start with the trailer. May we present, “Episode 802”:

Looks like Jaime Lannister is in hot water with Queen Daenerys. However that turns out, it also looks like this episode will see the defenders of Winterfell prepare for the Night King’s impending attack.

In fact, a lot of the photos look like they’re taken on the eve of war. Here’s the littlest bear on Bear Island, all armored up and ready to kick some undead ass.

Last week we were finally gifted with the return of Game of Thrones. As excited as we were to finally get to watch Game of Thrones again, it pales in comparison to how we’re feeling about season 8 episode 2.

While last week’s episode got us feeling the GoT shivers once again, it didn’t quite swing into the all out warfare the finale is promising, but promo trailers for season 8 episode 2 show that everything is about to change. With conflicts between pretty much every character you can think of being advertised, you are not going to want to miss this second episode.

Luckily for you, you’re in the right place for all your how to watch Game of Thrones episode 2 know-how. We’ve tracked down the streaming services, costs and times for the second episode so you can be ready with your bowl of popcorn before it starts – you can find a full guide for several countries down below.

We would attempt to catch you up on seasons 1-7 in preparation for the new episode but considering there’s 2 days, 15 hours and 30 minutes worth of content…it might take us a while. Just know, this season is going to be big!

Game of Thrones, especially in the wake of many long-running ones proving to be true like Jon’s secret parentage and claim to the throne. One mystery that reappeared last week was of the White Walker’s spiral symbol, this time a series of limbs with an undead child stuck in the middle, and the entire thing was set on fire by Berric’s sword in one of the most terrifying moments of the show in quite a while.

We have seen this spiral symbol, and one or two others, before. Many times, in fact. The White Walkers have made symbols out of bodies previously, and we have seen the spiral in a key flashback, the one where the Children of the Forest sacrificed a man in some sort of pagan ritual at a tree, a man who became a White Walker. Around the tree was the spiral pattern, made up of stones.

Game Of Thrones 2019: The HBO hit series “Game of Thrones,” which returns for its eighth and final season on Sunday. The language? It’s called High Valyrian, the tongue of the ruined Valyrian Freehold empire, and it’s one of four languages created by linguist David J. Peterson spoken on the show.

While only one character can speak native High Valyrian on “Game of Thrones,” viewers nationwide are picking up a few words and phrases from an unlikely source: Duolingo, the free language-learning app.

Duolingo first offered lessons in High Valyrian in 2017 and, since then, 1.2 million people have started the course. In the last two weeks leading up to the premier of the final season, Duolingo has seen a near 65% increase in people taking the course, said Sam Dalsimer, a spokesman for Duolingo.

High Valyrian isn’t the only fictional language Duolingo has to offer. Star Trek fans can find Klingon, a language constructed by Marc Okrand and centered around spacecraft, warfare and weaponry.

To offer languages on Duolingo, the company usually relies on hundreds of volunteers and employees to develop course material and monitor users’ experiences. That’s not the case when it comes to High Valyrian, where Peterson is a contributor and develops the courses for free.

“We teach over 30 languages and most have thousands of people who speak them and are capable of helping us teach them.” Dalsimer said. “There’s only one person on planet Earth who knows the language, and that’s David Peterson.”

The origins of High Valyrian come from the book that inspired the show, written by George R.R. Martin. Peterson won a contest to develop the more common language used on “Game of Thrones” called Dothraki but was asked to build High Valyrian later in the series. His goal was to create a classic language that could give birth to many others, similar to Romance languages, and Peterson noted it had to fit with the names Martin created for the book, such as Daenerys, Viserys and Rhaella.

There are now 824 words of High Valyrian that users can learn on Duolingo, and that number continues to grow. Peterson said there are now 2,000 words in the full version of the language he maintains.

“With every single language I create I keep working on it for the rest of my life or until I’m not happy with it,” said Peterson, who has created more than 50 languages. “It will basically just be another one of my languages, it’s not like it’s going to get any special treatment.”

When Peterson first encountered Duolingo, he felt it could revolutionize the way people learned languages. It had a great interface, it was free and, as a linguist, it’s the dream for people like him to create languages people would have access to, although he didn’t foresee how popular High Valyrian would become.

Today, High Valyrian has 822,000 active learners, or those who have used the course in the last 12 months. That’s more than Czech, Norwegian, Vietnamese and Hungarian.

“I imagined it would attract casual interest, but I never imagined there would be that many people who would actually be interested in taking the course,” Peterson said.

There is one statistic Peterson is particularly proud of: 44% of users who came to Duolingo to learn High Valyrian went on to practice other languages. While users may not perfect High Valyrian, Peterson sees the language as a “gateway drug” to learners discovering other cultures.

“As we become more economically focused, people view language as a tool as opposed to an art piece in and of itself or cultural history,” Peterson said.

More than 40% of the world speaks one of eight languages, although there are more than 7,000 worldwide. UNESCO, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has labeled 2,680 languages in danger as it celebrates the International Year of Indigenous Languages, designed to raise awareness to disappearing languages.

“It’s nice that the UN is putting this emphasis on indigenous languages because people need to start addressing this issue,” Peterson said. “We’re losing them and we’re losing them quickly, and once they’re lost, they’re lost.”

Duolingo has worked with communities and volunteers like Peterson to develop courses in endangered languages, such as offering lessons in Hawaiian, Irish and Navajo, Dalsimer said.

“Those courses are driven entirely by volunteer contributors and for them it’s more about a desire to preserve their language and their culture because they see it as being endangered, and it is,” Dalsimer said. “Languages die every year and Duolingo can help them preserve it.”

GOT Season 8: Tonight we get episode 2 of the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones.This week we’ll all begin the excitement, drama, death and, well, games of GOT season 8 and with its air time and date fast approaching, we’ve gathered up some key information so you know when to clear your schedules for and, crucially, what all your options are for making sure you know exactly how to stream GOT Season 8 Episode 2.

In the first episode, titled Winterfell, our heroes experienced reunions, first meetings and revelations aplenty as the living begin to assemble for the coming fight against the dead. With five more episodes to go, it feels like winter is just getting warmed up.

We’ll keep this guide spoiler-free in case you haven’t seen episode 1 yet. But if you have, be sure to read our in-depth recap and check out the trailer for episode 2.

So how can you stream all the action in Westeros? You will need a way to watch HBO. Thankfully, there are plenty of easy ways to subscribe, even if you don’t have cable, starting with HBO Now and HBO Go. Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the services featured on this page.

Game of Thrones began way back in Season 1 with the game seemingly set to be played between the four major noble houses of Westeros: Baratheon, Stark, Lannister, and Targaryen. Surprisingly, Robert’s line of House Baratheon was taken almost entirely out of the game by the end of the first episode of Season 2. Robert was dead, Joffrey and his siblings were Cersei’s kids with Jaime, and Robert’s many bastards from King’s Landing were all murdered.

Well, almost all. Gendry escaped, and he’s the last surviving member of the Baratheon bloodline. Renly didn’t outlive Robert by long, and Stannis saw to it that his only trueborn child was dead before he was finally killed by Brienne of Tarth. All that is left of the mighty Baratheon line, known for their words of “OURS IS THE FURY,” is a bastard who didn’t know his father was Robert until Melisandre took him to meet Stannis.

Well, if Game of Thrones has proved anything, it’s that a bastard — or at least, somebody who believed himself to be a bastard — can rise to great heights, and the first episode of Season 8 raises the question: is Game of Thrones foreshadowing the return of House Baratheon?

The biggest point in favor of House Baratheon’s return is obviously the fact that Gendry is back in the mix. He was part of what clued Ned into the truth that Cersei’s children were pure Lannister, joined up with Arya at the end of Season 1, and was an important part of her journey through Season 3… until he was bought by Melisandre and very nearly sacrificed so she could use his king’s blood for nefarious purposes.

This was back before Stannis was willing to let his own daughter be sacrificed. Davos saved Gendry in the Season 3 finale, and Gendry famously rowed away from the shores of King’s Landing, not to be seen again until Season 7, when he was ready and willing to swing a warhammer with a stag on it. He even survived his improbable run back to The Wall after joining the Fellowship of the Wight on their quest to find proof of the White Walkers’ army of the dead.

Now, he’s at Winterfell with some of the key contenders for the Iron Throne as well as some of the few people left alive who really knew Robert Baratheon. Unless he dies in the big battle that’s coming up — which is entirely possible — then the stage is set for him to have more importance moving forward.

As king? Honestly, I hope not. He’s a good guy, a great blacksmith, and could be a passable Lord of Storm’s End. But king? I’m not even sure if Gendry ever had the means to learn how to read.

Game of Thrones Season 8: Game of Thrones has finally returned, and with only six episodes in the final season, we have less time in Westeros than ever before. Despite that, the episode lengths for Season 8 are some of the longest in the show’s history.

How long are the episodes in Game of Thrones Season 8? Last week’s Season 8 premiere was the shortest episode of the season at 54 minutes, while tonight’s episode 2 length will be just under a full hour – but as HBO previously revealed back in March, the final four episodes will all be around an hour and 20 minutes long. HBO is still keeping the episode titles for Season 8 hidden until they air, likely to avoid giving away any plot details about the new season ahead of time. Check out the episode run times for Season 8 below, courtesy of HBO.

You know “Game of Thrones” stars Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington and Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey — but do you recall some of the HBO fantasy series’ greatest cameos of all?

Sure you remember Ed Sheeran (literally, how could anyone forget that?) and by now you know about the “GoT” Season 8 premiere’s big connection to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” but TheWrap is willing to bet all the precious Dragonglass in Westeros you haven’t noticed every famous face that’s dropped by the Seven Kingdoms unannounced.

See our round-up of the top nine “Game of Thrones” cameos and one famous face that was going to make it into a scene, and why they didn’t.

The “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” creator/star played an Ironborn who was guarding Euron Greyjoy’s ship when Theon and his men came to save Yara. He took an arrow through the eye and that was the end of his very short “GoT” arch.

The “Silicon Valley” star made his cameo in the exact same scene as McElhenney — and died the same way too.

The runtimes for all six episodes in Game of Thrones’ Season 8 have reportedly been released by HBO through their unique URL’s that are live on HBO’s programming site.

Winter Is Coming noticed that HBO released their programming schedule for the first two episodes in Season 8, which will run for 54 and 58 minutes each.

The runtimes for Season 8 get progressively longer as the season unfolds, but is not uncommon for Game of Thrones. Season 7’s finale came in at nearly 80 minutes, which has been the longest Game of Thrones episode to date.

Total, the runtimes equal six hours and 50 minutes, which Newsweek pointed out is still shorter than the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Don’t forget to check out our guide on where and how to stream Game of Thrones season 8, so you don’t miss a single episode.

Game of Thrones: Game of Thrones has finally returned, and with only six episodes in the final season, we have less time in Westeros than ever before. Despite that, the episode lengths for Season 8 are some of the longest in the show’s history.

How long are the episodes in Game of Thrones Season 8? Last week’s Season 8 premiere was the shortest episode of the season at 54 minutes, while tonight’s episode 2 length will be just under a full hour – but as HBO previously revealed back in March, the final four episodes will all be around an hour and 20 minutes long. HBO is still keeping the episode titles for Season 8 hidden until they air, likely to avoid giving away any plot details about the new season ahead of time. Check out the episode run times for Season 8 below, courtesy of HBO.

You know “Game of Thrones” stars Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington and Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey — but do you recall some of the HBO fantasy series’ greatest cameos of all?

Sure you remember Ed Sheeran (literally, how could anyone forget that?) and by now you know about the “GoT” Season 8 premiere’s big connection to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” but TheWrap is willing to bet all the precious Dragonglass in Westeros you haven’t noticed every famous face that’s dropped by the Seven Kingdoms unannounced.

See our round-up of the top nine “Game of Thrones” cameos and one famous face that was going to make it into a scene, and why they didn’t.

The “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” creator/star played an Ironborn who was guarding Euron Greyjoy’s ship when Theon and his men came to save Yara. He took an arrow through the eye and that was the end of his very short “GoT” arch.

The “Silicon Valley” star made his cameo in the exact same scene as McElhenney — and died the same way too.

The runtimes for all six episodes in Game of Thrones’ Season 8 have reportedly been released by HBO through their unique URL’s that are live on HBO’s programming site.

Winter Is Coming noticed that HBO released their programming schedule for the first two episodes in Season 8, which will run for 54 and 58 minutes each.

The runtimes for Season 8 get progressively longer as the season unfolds, but is not uncommon for Game of Thrones. Season 7’s finale came in at nearly 80 minutes, which has been the longest Game of Thrones episode to date.

Total, the runtimes equal six hours and 50 minutes, which Newsweek pointed out is still shorter than the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Don’t forget to check out our guide on where and how to stream Game of Thrones season 8, so you don’t miss a single episode.

Garcia vs Granados Live: Danny Garcia and Adrian Granados are officially set for Saturday night’s PBC on FOX main event from Carson, Calif., a fight that’s flying under the radar but is a solid alternative to the Crawford-Khan pay-per-view from ESPN.

Garcia (34-2, 20 KO) came in at 146¾, with Granados (20-6-2, 14 KO) at 146, both below the 147-pound limit. Garcia talked a fair amount this week about the issues with getting older and cutting down to 147, but he’s also said all week that his body feels strong and he wouldn’t have any real trouble actually making weight, and it doesn’t appear he did.

Granados, best-known as a tough underdog for matchups like this, is looking to finally break through with a big win. Both have talked a good game leading up, now we see if they turn in the performances on Saturday night.

In the FOX co-feature, heavyweights Andy Ruiz Jr (31-1, 20 KO) and Alexander Dimitrenko (41-4, 26 KO) are set for 10 rounds, in what will be Ruiz’s first fight with PBC after a career with Top Rank.

Ruiz’s conditioning has been talked about plenty over his career, for obvious reasons. In his first two fights, he weighed in just shy of 300 pounds, then got more serious about things as time went on. But he’s always been considered, uh, chunky. There was talk this week about him having hired conditioning coaches and personal chefs and all this.

He weighed in at 262 for this fight, which is actually his highest weight since 2014. That’s three pounds more than Dimitrenko weighed, and Dimitrenko is five inches taller than Ruiz. This is not to say Ruiz hasn’t been more or less dedicated, because he doesn’t look particularly different than ever, really, just that his weight is always going to be what it is, basically. He’s still the clear favorite to win this fight.

When comparing the names, resumes and skills of the top welterweight fighters of today with previous eras, it’s not hard to summarize that we are entering historic times for the 147-pound division.

Former two-division champion Danny Garcia knows that all too well and certainly has his sights set on opportunities against the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr., or in big-money rematches against Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. Garcia also considers himself the division’s top dog from a brand standpoint, at the moment, and has both television and attendance ratings holstered up to share with any who disagree.

Danny Garcia vs Adrian Granados: Danny Garcia vs Adrian Granados fight prediction, date, card, expert picks, odds, start time, TV channel. Danny Garcia knows that all too well and certainly has his sights set on opportunities against the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr., or in big-money rematches against Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. Garcia also considers himself the division’s top dog from a brand standpoint, at the moment, and has both television and attendance ratings holstered up to share with any who disagree.

So for Garcia (34-2, 20 KOs), whose only losses have come via razor-thin decision in title bouts against Thurman and Porter, to return to the biggest stage just seven months removed from suffering defeat, he knows an impressive showing on Saturday will be dire when he headlines a Premier Boxing Champions card (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Garcia, 31, certainly expects a hungry challenge when he faces come-forward welterweight Adrian Granados (20-6-2, 14 KOs) at the outdoor arena, formerly known as StubHub Center, that has routinely produced one all-action fight after another over the past decade.

What that presents in an interesting quandary for viewers. Coming over free airwaves on Fox, Garcia-Granados will air opposite ESPN’s first foray into pay-per-view as Terence Crawford defends the WBO welterweight belt against Khan.

The fuel behind Granados’ hard-luck hunger is how often the 29-year-old Chicago native has come up on the wrong side of the decision in close fights. Through six defeats and two draws in 28 pro bouts, one could argue Granados has only been convincingly defeated once, with many of said fights having created disputed (if not controversial) reactions.

Although Garcia respects Granados’ heart, he has been very vocal about the difference in class between him and his opponent entering Saturday. He has also enlisted the help of a new nutritionist to avoid any form of a late fade considering he knows Granados will be aggressively stalking for as long as the fight lasts.

With an elite chin, top-shelf power in his left hook and a sometimes underrated fight IQ as a traditional boxer, there aren’t many avenues to defeat Garcia unless you can best him in each of those respected categories. That’s why Garcia’s only defeats have come against the very elite in the sport.

If there is a blueprint, however, on how one might stay close to Garcia, his one weakness has been a lack of elite foot speed, which fighters from Thurman and Porter to Lamont Peterson and Mauricio Herrera in close defeats have done a great job exploiting.

Granados is an aggressive fighter with a bit more craft than a typical journeyman brawler. The problem is that he’s a bit of a tweener and lacks both elite speed to be more of a slick boxer or fight-altering power to be a threat to knock Garcia out.

One thing Garcia should expect is high-paced fight for as long as the fight goes and Granados, who has never been stopped, has built a reputation upon being durable. But he’s a bit undersized at 147 pounds and has never fought a puncher the caliber of Garcia, whose left hook has become one of the closest things in boxing to being called a finishing move.

If Garcia can time his counter shots to discipline Granados and give him pause on so recklessly coming forward, the tenor of the fight can quickly change in his favor. Defense has never been a huge calling card for Granados and he will likely find himself outgunned should this turn into a toe-to-toe battle.

Given Granados’ hunger, however, and the fact that this has all the makings to be a defining fight in his career should he pull the upset, one can expect the best version of him we have ever seen. That could be enough to get him to the finish line provided he doesn’t get to careless but it likely isn’t enough to lift him to anything more.

Khan vs Crawford Live: WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford makes his 2019 debut on Saturday, putting his title on the line against Amir Khan at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Khan, 32, has chosen to snub the advances of Kell Brook and instead takes aim at one of boxing’s modern greats as he looks to head Stateside and come home with the world strap.

But Crawford is 34-0 and has his eye on an all-American unification bout against IBF champion Errol Spence Jr if he comes through this test.

Crawford, 31, is considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the sport, if not the best. This is his third fight at welterweight, arguably boxing’s most talent-laden division, and the one in which he aims to stake his claim as an all-time great. He ran out of opponents in the lightweight and junior welterweight ranks, unifying all four major titles in the latter division in 2017.

Before he had a chance to win a world title at 147 pounds, he moved up to middleweight to challenge Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2016, a fight that saw him knocked out in devastating fashion in the sixth round.

For Crawford, it’s a chance to bring his impeccable craft to a much wider audience. For Khan, it’s an opportunity to breathe new life into his career.

Crawford might lack the wider name recognition of a pay-per-view star, but he has the talent. A complete fighter, the Omaha, Nebraska, native has power in both hands, impeccable footwork—he can box out of both stances but favors southpaw these days—and is masterful at disrupting his opponent’s rhythm and timing.

He tends to starts out slow, but what he’s doing is gathering information, figuring out his opponent’s strategy, tactics and what punches they want to establish. Once he has the other boxer figured out, he pummels them into submission.

Khan is far removed from his glory days, when he was beating up on the likes of Zab Judah and Marcos Maidana at junior welterweight. Back-to-back losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia derailed his run at 140 pounds, leading to him to move up to 147 pounds.

The 32-year-old found some success there, winning the WBA international welterweight title and the WBC Silver welterweight strap, but it all went out the window when he lost to Alvarez.

Khan’s speed has always given fighters trouble. Alvarez was not immune to this, with the Englishman buzzing him for a few rounds and making life difficult. Once Canelo locked in, his size and strength advantage took over, though, leading to one of the cleanest knockouts you will ever see.

That led to some time away from the sport, but Khan has come back with a vengeance. He destroyed Phil Lo Greco last year in his return bout, beating him in 39 seconds. He then dominated Samuel Vargas in September, winning by unanimous decision despite suffering an early knockdown.

Amir Khan vs Terence Crawford: Amir Khan can succeed in upsetting Terence Crawford even though he considers the American the finest fighter in the world. Khan challenges the great WBO welterweight champion at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday in what could prove to be his defining fight.

Trainer Freddie Roach is as familiar with Khan, having once trained him at his famous Wild Card gym, as he is with the level Crawford is competing at after inspiring the great Manny Pacquiao to his peak years.

Fights with Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather previously eluded Khan when he hoped to challenge one of the world’s two leading fighters, but this weekend the opportunity the 32-year-old from Bolton has desperately wanted finally arrives.

The decorated Roach is reminded of Mayweather-Pacquiao by the rivalry between Vasyl Lomachenko and Crawford, and also believes that Khan’s task has been made even more difficult because Crawford will want to respond to Lomachenko’s destruction of Anthony Crolla last weekend.

Given his current political standing as the odd man out among welterweight champions as things stand from a network and promotional standpoint, unbeaten WBO champion Terence Crawford’s opponent on Saturday isn’t too shabby.

Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs) will take an important step forward in terms of his brand when he headlines the inaugural Top Rank on ESPN pay-per-view card (9 p.m. ET) at New York’s Madison Square Garden against British star and former unified junior welterweight champion Amir Khan (33-4, 20 KOs).

After fans initially balked at Top Rank chairman Bob Arum’s suggestion that Crawford might return against aging former champion Luis Collazo, the substitution of the 32-year-old Khan instantly presented much more appealing style possibilities for Crawford, who joins stablemate Vasiliy Lomachenko atop most pound-for-pound lists.

While the dark cloud of his vulnerable chin is always in play regardless of opponent, Khan presents legitimate size, speed and experience challenges for Crawford that he has yet to face rolled up into the same opponent professionally.

Khan enters the fight confident in what he can do in this matchup, regardless of whether Crawford turns southpaw, decides to box from the outside or looks to attack in the early rounds.

Barcelona vs Real Sociedad: Barcelona can take another step towards securing La Liga’s crown if they beat Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou on Saturday, with the hosts searching for their seventh successive victory over La Real.

Sociedad are 10th in La Liga and travel to Catalonia having lost in each of their previous 22 trips to the Camp Nou, per Soccerway, where their chances look low after winning just one of their last eight games.

The Blaugrana remain on course for a European and domestic treble this season after beating Manchester United 3-0 on Tuesday to advance to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Sociedad aren’t out of the hunt for European qualification themselves and are fighting to close the gap on seventh-place Athletic Bilbao, though Barca will be reluctant to give up precious points at home.

First-place Barcelona looks to earn three more points in La Liga as it takes on Real Sociedad on Saturday as part of Matchday 33. Barca is 22-8-2 with 74 points and a nine-point lead over Atletico Madrid, but the club is coming off a 0-0 draw against last-place Huesca in a match where Barca’s key players were rested. Real Sociedad is in 10th place with a 10-11-11 record and 41 points, with the club hoping to make a late-season push.

Barcelona: Having just come off a Champions League match against Manchester United, don’t be shocked to see some more players rested here. The league title race is nearly over and it may start being time to give Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez rest when possible.

Real Sociedad: The club is eight-points back of a Europa League spot, and that may be too much to task to overcome. So this team is looking at a ceiling of probably finishing in seventh or eighth. Getting something from this game would just be a bonus.

The Catalans dumped Manchester United out of the Champions League on Tuesday night, as a brace from Lionel Messi and a second-half strike from Philippe Coutinho secured a 4-0 aggregate victory. They were held to a dismal 0-0 by Huesca in the league last weekend having rested a host of first choice players, though the preceding defeat of rivals Atletico Madrid all but sealed their Spanish crown.

Sociedad also drew their last fixture, a late effort from Eibar’s Joan Jordán cancelling out Juanmi’s first-minute opener. That result leaves the club in 10th position in the table, with Europa League qualification now seemingly beyond them.

Despite drawing two of their last three in the league, Barça will be brimming with confidence. The emphatic victory over United in midweek demonstrated their ability to put opponents to the sword, especially when Messi is on song.

The diminutive wizard has hit a purple patch in recent weeks, now looking capable of winning games single-handedly. Sociedad will be dreading the prospect of facing him after their indifferent performances and results of late.

Such a mentality should see Barcelona comfortably overcome the men from the north with another Messi masterclass on the cards.